I peeled her off me, and as cold as I might seem, I needed to drive my message home even further. “It infuriates me what Fred has done to you, and I’m not discounting how you feel. Believe me when I say I know. Jo had to deal with foster dads like Fred. But right now I need your help. Layla and I are counting on you to help take care of your nieces and nephew. But if I can’t trust you to follow orders or you’re going to go off on your own, pulling shit like you did, then maybe Tripp is right. We can’t have you living on base.”
She flicked a tear off her face with the pads of her fingers, craning her neck up at me. “I swear on my mom and dad’s graves, I will not act out anymore. From the beginning, I’ve always been on your side. You know that. Please, Sam, believe me. I will protect those babies with my life. I promise you. If I fail, you can lock me up and throw away the key.”
I could feel her regret. Even if I couldn’t, she’d sworn on her parents’ graves. That had to mean something.
I raised my forefinger. “One chance, Jordyn. And understand that I will not hesitate to follow through on throwing you out of here. You won’t be allowed to step foot on base again.” That would hurt Layla, and I was certain Jordyn knew that. “Understood?”
She nodded quickly. “Yes. I understand.”
Layla loved Jordyn dearly, but my wife wouldn’t put up with Jordyn’s shit either, especially if our children’s lives were at stake. And for fuck’s sake, after Rianne’s speech, our kids were in jeopardy. Who the fuck knew what crazy people would do if they thought my children were a threat to them?
“Good. I’m glad we’re on the same page.”
“Can I see Layla?” she asked. “I want to shower first. Oh, and please don’t tell Layla about what Fred did to me or my dad. I feel it’s something I have to do.”
“Of course. Come on.” Jordyn was staying with Sawyer’s sister, Harley, at her place, which was a quick jaunt through the woods, but the walk would give me ample time to bring her up to speed on the state of the union. “I’ll walk you home and fill you in on your sister Rianne—who is alive, by the way—and why we’re letting Fred go.”
13
SAM
Iheaded back from Harley’s house, using the shortcut through woods that separated a section of the military housing from the hub of the SEAL command.
Splashes of mud sprayed around my booted feet as I trudged along the muddy path, texting my sister. I was anxious to tell her about Abbey and the Aberdeen sisters and to see how Layla was doing.
Once I hit Send, I inhaled the musky-sweet aroma of the dead vegetation that hung in the air. Nothing like the scents after a hard rain. A light breeze rustled branches high above me, causing water droplets to ping off my head, when a beeping sound alerted me to a text.
I was ready to read Jo’s response, but instead, a text came through from my father.
Dad:Meet me in the war room as soon as possible.
I would give anything for a hot shower, a bed, and a romp in the hay with my wife. However, the sweaty, tangled sex with my huntress couldn’t happen until she recovered from surgery and Doc cleared her for physical activity.
In the meantime, I had to direct my energy elsewhere and settle for a punching bag. Too bad Dane Gray wasn’t on-site. The wolf shifter owed me a sparring date. I hadn’t seen him since I’d rescued Layla, but I had spoken to him on the phone about a week ago. He was still bunkered down with Ben, Olivia, and the Special Forces team in West Virginia, hoping to glean any sign that his brother Ross was alive and in the hands of Intech. Ross had been taken at around the time Matthew had. The question now—was Ross Gray or even the other shifter, Tucker Whyte, about to make a TV appearance? Sergeant Rebekah Whyte was just as anxious to find her brother as Dane was.
I bolted across the compound and into the back door of the command center—a shortcut to the war room. I had a sneaky suspicion my old man wanted to chat about the council. In fact, he was probably fielding calls left and right from the elders after Adam’s performance at his press conference.
The hum of voices, the tapping of keys, and other subtle computer noises acted as white noise as my mind wandered until I glanced at the largest of monitors that encompassed the far wall.
Several swear words dropped from my lips as I slowed to a walk. The crowd outside our perimeter was massive, filled with humans carrying signs that read Free Layla.
Motherfucker!
Adam Emery certainly knew how to mind fuck us. Or rather Rianne, bitch extraordinaire, sure did. We should throw Carly Aberdeen to the wolves, so to speak. Put her on television and show the nation what would happen if anyone signed up for Adam’s experiment. He was taking the credit for Matthew Costner when in fact the honorary award went to my uncle Patrick.
I chewed the inside of my cheek, standing near an empty cubicle. I could picture the long lines of money-hungry humans outside Intech’s headquarters in Chicago. A hundred thousand dollars wasn’t anything to sneeze at. I was right when I’d told Victor and Webb on the day Roman’s men stormed Victor’s estate that those of our kind who have chosen not to turn, like Alia, for example, were the ones Adam would target. Or humans like Matthew who had vampires in their families. The good news—Adam wasn’t taking people against their will. Bad news—we might have a well-formed army of lab-born supernaturals to deal with.
Sawyer came out of Tripp’s office, tucking his hands into the pockets of his green fatigues. His kaleidoscope-colored eyes lasered in on me as he approached. “Just the man I was looking for. Tripp has me working on locating Kendra. I got her number from Jo, but we also pulled her prints when Kendra was in the infirmary. I’m running a background check on her within our vampire database and also the civilian one. Since you have a full plate, Tripp instructed me to work with Jo on this. But are you cool with me bringing Layla in too? I understand from Tripp that Layla and Abbey could be related.”
“Go for it. Layla wants to know more about Kendra anyway.”
“Also, one more thing. Harley and I have spoken to our parents. And we would like to offer our childhood home in Vermont as a place of refuge for you and your family. There’s plenty of room. Our neighbors are vampires and some are witches, and my mom can help with the babies.”
My stomach dropped. Despite flipping the switch on our disaster-readiness plan, I might be leaving here before then. Yet warmth spread through my chest that Sawyer and his sister Harley were thinking about Layla and me. “I have no words.” We exchanged a bro hug. “I’ll keep that in mind. But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
Sawyer had always kept his head down, followed orders, and was a dedicated team member. I couldn’t say I’d ever seen him worried like he was now.
“I’ve told Webb and Tripp,” he said. “I have a space in our basement as big as this room. It’s set up with computers and security systems. I would need to make some upgrades, but we could move our command center there.”
